Polishing Skills
by Kyatto no Edo
Summary: MaiXZuko Post CoD Mai has Zuko polish her nails and wonders what else he can do with his hands. Suprisingly, he obliges. Oneshot. R&R please!


**Polishing Skills**

_By Kyatto_

Pairing: Mai/Zuko

Rating: T+

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing in Avatar nor do I make any money

Enjoy!

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"Zuko, _honestly _…."

Zuko picked his head up to peer at the young woman he was kneeling in front of. She was seated in a very comfortable looking chair in the throne room of the palace. Ty Lee had set off to go exploring while Azula had gone to do more plotting. Thus leaving both Mai and Zuko alone….and bored. Well, it would've been _very_ boring for Mai if she wasn't…with him.

"Yes?" The young man blinked a few times.

"I don't know which color would look better. What do you think? Black or violet?" Mai held up two small bottles of nail color and twirled them slowly.

Brow furrowed, Zuko made it a point to study the girl for a moment. His eyes took in every last inch of her fine features. Almost always, when he wasn't peering into her eyes or marveling at her long shining locks of dark hair, his gaze fell to her soft plump lips. It was crazy! This was nail-color-time, not gawk-at-the-kissable-lips-time! Even still, when he should be paying attention to the task at hand, his mind wandered to the wonderings of how they would feel pressed against his own. He had only been kissed once, and was afraid and embarrassed to admit that he liked it. Since then he really hadn't given the idea much thought. That is, until he saw _her_ again. It'd been years and she had obviously grown up so much. Ever since he had laid eyes on her more adult form he couldn't stop all the different ideas that flooded his mind…all of the longings he suddenly had for her. Such thoughts and desires in the past he had deemed foolish and disgusting. Who'd want a girl over power and glory? But then he saw her…_Mai_. The most exotic, beautiful young woman he had ever seen….She was pretty enough to almost make him forget that she was his sister's childhood friend….Almost.

"Fine, don't answer me," Mai sighed, pocketing the bottles. "Whatever."

"Oh! Uh…." He racked his brain to remember the options. What were they again? "Hmm….Black?...Maybe with a coat of violet on top to gloss it?"

"Creative," she smirked and tossed the small bottles to him. "Get to it."

"As you wish," Zuko caught them both in his hand, having developed reflexes that rivaled a master. Biting his lip, he unscrewed the cap of the black paint and pulled out the small brush.

Carefully he picked up her left foot and set it on his knee. Small swabs of cloth had already been placed between the toes to protect them, and the nails had been cleansed with lotion. He took the brush, which was almost dripping with paint, and made smooth strokes along the nail of her largest toe. Zuko was careful with what he was doing, not being an artist by any means, and made sure he got on a thick coat. He was also not a woman, so he wouldn't be surprised if she scolded him soon for not doing it right. Makeup had always been deemed a woman's forte. Why on earth Mai requested this task of him he'll never be able to fathom.

"Just don't drip any on the floor," Mai told him, feigning an "I'm-so-bored-I-could-care-less-one-way-or-another" attitude as she spoke. "Really would not want Azula on my back right now." Zuko nodded in response, still fixated on what he was doing.

When she was sure he wasn't paying attention to her, Mai allowed herself to relax and smile fondly at him for a moment. It was so adorable, the way he was so intent to do a good job on such a simple task as nail-painting. Such a trivial ritual most girls found routine, boring, and simple. But the way Zuko concentrated so hard, it was almost as if she had asked him to write out a plot for an invasion. His brow furrowed in deep concentration, his lip swollen from the way he bit it, tongue occasionally swooping over the soft wounds he gave himself… He looked absolutely divine in her eye. She could feel herself heat up as she watched him work so hard for her. It was difficult not to imagine the other possibilities of things she could make him focus on as well. Perhaps that night she'd goad him to her sleeping quarters and see what he would do for her in…No! No thoughts of that, Mai! He wasn't like that. This task alone was as far as he was going to go when it came to physical contact with her. For all she knew, he secretly hated her! Her heart sank when she remembered where her loyalties were supposed to lie. She was to be loyal to Azula…To him that probably made her his enemy too.

Mai sighed when she felt him finish and move onto her other food, "You're doing a good job."

"Think so?" Zuko looked up from what he was doing to meet her gaze.

"I don't see any smudges," she nodded. "You've got some steady hands."

"Comes from proper training," he told her, referring to all the times spent learning how to master dao, and then went back to his painting. "This doesn't require much effort."

"Really?" Mai tried to hide her actual curiosity. "What else can you do?"

"I'm pretty good with knives, swords, hand-to-hand…." Zuko thought about all the different martial arts training he had, not sure if that was what she meant or not.

She snorted in an attempt to cover up her amusement. Man, and she thought Ty Lee was dense! "No, I _know_ that …If asked…could you give a proper massage?"

"_What_?" Zuko looked at her as if she was speaking in tongues. "Why would I…do that?"

"No reason," she pretended to hold no real interest in the topic. "I just want to know, if asked by I don't know, let's say I felt like it…and I asked you…would you?"

"I don't know," he replied quietly, finishing the last of her toes. "I might try…Not sure how good I'd be. Never done it before."

"Couldn't hurt to try," Mai smirked and admired the glistening wet paint on her nails when he finished applying. "I have been on my feet for some time…A bit of a rub would be nice."

"Want me to?" he looked up at her as he blew at the paint on her nails to get the first coat to dry quicker. The response he got was a nod. "Alright then."

Zuko took the same lotion he used before to clean her toes and rubbed it into his palms before applying it to her foot. He spread some of the cool gel on the soft arch of her foot with his fingers then smoothed it around over the pad and heel. Murmuring to himself, he then pressed his thumbs into the rough pads just under her toes and rubbed in circular motions. Mai made a contented sound and watched him, trying not to squirm from how good it felt. As he rubbed he kept his gaze locked on her, watching her reactions to what he was doing. His other fingers then stroked the back of her foot as he continued the ministrations with his thumbs. Mai continued to watch with interest and made it her current mission not to blush. Pleased that he seemed to be doing a good job, Zuko continued doing what he was doing, now running his thumbs over as much of the length of her foot as he could reach, making points to press into the arch every so often. The lotion finally sunk in all the way and the floral smell of it filled his nostrils. He watched her with much interest as she bit her lip and closed her eyes, arching her back. She wasn't sure why it felt so good but it almost felt as if they were…

He then continued pressing his thumbs against her flesh, rubbing them in all directions. The shine on her nails showed the paint had finally dried. Suddenly, a rather bizarre idea came to mind, and for once he decided to throw caution to the wind. After taking a deep breath, inhaling that sweet scent, he lowered his mouth to her foot and gave the pad a delicate lick before taking her big toe in his mouth. It was weird and unheard of, but something inside him screamed and told him to do it. Even though he wasn't on the receiving end, it just felt so good. He was glad he had done it too, for the reaction he got made a great deal of heat drop to his groin.

"Zuko…What are you doing?" Mai gasped when she felt his mouth around her toe, his hands still massaging her foot. She wasn't expecting…that. But damn, if that didn't feel god. Weird, but good.

Instead of actually replying he gave her a low throaty growl as a response and continued sucking on her toe. His tongue flicked all around and he could taste the alcohol in the paint. He grazed along the skin with his teeth and nibbled lightly up and down. The sounds she made for him as he did this only made him heat up more. Zuko continued to press against and squeeze her foot, loving the feel of her soft skin in his hands. Suddenly, the room started to get really hot and he knew it wasn't because someone had decided to light a fire. It took a great deal of willpower to control the urges sprouting forth in his lower region. This was not a good time to confuse himself.

"Zu-Zuko! Mm!" Mai, now blushing furiously, squirmed and writhed in her seat. This was so weird! Beyond weird…Words couldn't even describe what it felt like. She could feel herself warming between her legs and her breath coming in heavy pants. Why was this feeling so good? Mother…No, no one ever said having your feet touched could feel like that too…Was she odd? Was this not normal? Should having her foot massaged and her toe sucked on not be about to bring her to a bloody _orgasm_? She started to panic despite herself, not wanting to seem abnormal in front of her crush. "S-Stop! It's okay!"

Zuko took her toe out of his mouth with a soft 'pop' and looked up at her with a worried expression. "Something wrong?"

"Foot…feeling better…" Her voice lowered to just above a whisper, still panting. She looked away in an attempt to hide her blush.

"Want me to take care of the other one?" he asked, reaching for her other foot.

"N-no!" she practically jumped. "That's alright…You did good…" A long, deep, slow breath. "_Very_ good…"

"Have I found another skill?" Zuko gave her a small smile, finally noticing her blush. It was sexy, in a cute innocent way. He hoped he could get more of that from her in the future.

"I guess you could say that," Mai chuckled softly, something she rarely ever did. After another deep breath to regain her composure her expression firmed once more. She looked down tat her toenails which were in need of another coating and pointed. "Now finish up."

"Right," Zuko nodded obediently and reached for the bottle. If he was lucky perhaps he could do it all again…

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FIN!

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Hope you all like!


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